Trump of the Will: The Donald's foreign policy and his team, it's the best team

[sbr]

Making a fraudulent seal used to obtain a high ranking government position the emblem of the inspector general's office would be funny in its own way, and something I'd expect from a member of Donald Trump's team.

I wikied to check, and it looks like von Steuben was legit.  Maybe de Kalb?

Which one was the Kraut that drilled the army at Valley Forge?

That's weird, I thought it was pretty common knowledge that von Steuben wasn't actually an aristocrat. Strange that his wiki page doesn't even mention the idea in passing somewhere.

[Tonitrus]

"South Korea is very rich, great industrial country, and yet we're not reimbursed fairly for what we do," Trump said. "We're constantly sending our ships, sending our planes, doing our war games — we're reimbursed a fraction of what this is all costing."

Asked whether the United States benefits from its involvement in the region, Trump replied, "Personally, I don't think so." He added, "I think we were a very powerful, very wealthy country, and we are a poor country now. We're a debtor nation."

He always sounds like the crotchety old uncle in the extended family that you let yammer on for hours on Thanksgiving while he's watching football and yearning for the days when brown people knew their place.

It sounds like he read two paragraphs in a Newsweek from fifteen years ago and now he thinks he knows everything there is about the subject and he would fix it if only they'd read his letters he sends from the basement every three or four days.

It's like he's reading the cliff notes version of foreign policy and he has no idea what's hes actually talking about but, hey, I just read what's on the cheat sheet and go with my gut and I'll ace the exam because that's worked before (it hasn't)

Except that Trump has believed that since he was younger.  There is an youtube of him on Oprah from way back with him talking these same points.

[Tonitrus]

Except that Trump has believed that since he was younger.  There is an youtube of him on Oprah from way back with him talking these same points.

This one, from nearly 30 years ago (holy shit, I am getting old):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI

The rhetoric is pretty much exactly the same as his rhetoric now.

[Jacob]

Well, the US walking back from its NATO and other alliance commitments certainly change the international order in a significant way, as would the US keeping those commitments more or less but demanding significant amounts of cash on the table for sticking to them.

I'd expect more instability across the globe as a result, including some of it in ways that the US would find displeasing.

Of course, it does seem to be his MO to talk a big game to capitalize if the other side buys into it, but to walk it back or abandon the position if they don't. How will it play out in this case? Who knows...

[Monoriu]

I am concerned about Trump's anti-free trade position. 

[Tonitrus]

I am concerned about Trump's anti-free trade position.

Trump is all for free trade...it just has to be fair trade. 

[alfred russel]

Well, the US walking back from its NATO and other alliance commitments certainly change the international order in a significant way, as would the US keeping those commitments more or less but demanding significant amounts of cash on the table for sticking to them.

I'd expect more instability across the globe as a result, including some of it in ways that the US would find displeasing.

Of course, it does seem to be his MO to talk a big game to capitalize if the other side buys into it, but to walk it back or abandon the position if they don't. How will it play out in this case? Who knows...

A major problem is that if he was elected, he has said so many alarming and undiplomatic things that allies are going to distance themselves from him at the time of the inauguration.

[Monoriu]

I am concerned about Trump's anti-free trade position.

Trump is all for free trade...it just has to be fair trade. 

You are being exploited.  I am being exploited.  We trade.  It is fair 

[alfred russel]

I am concerned about Trump's anti-free trade position.

Trump is all for free trade...it just has to be fair trade. 

He is all for free trade, just not any of the free trade deals we have signed, because we have apparently gotten ripped off in all of them.

[Jacob]

A major problem is that if he was elected, he has said so many alarming and undiplomatic things that allies are going to distance themselves from him at the time of the inauguration.

I don't think so.

The fact is that the US is hugely important, and US allies - at least their leaders - will swallow a fair bit of shit to maintain that relationship. If Trump gets sworn in it'll be all "we look forward to working with the new administration" pretty much across the board. At worst it'll be "while we have significant differences, we look forward to working with the new administration in areas where we share objectives."

If Trump comes on like he positions himself (as opposed to bluster big, but being reasonable operator when it comes down to brass tacks), then I expect the real damage will be something like this:

1) Non-US aligned regional powers will throw their weight around more significantly leading to instability, damage to US interests, and the potential for more hot conflicts that the US ultimately could not ignore.

2) US aligned states - be they powerful or not - would chart more independent courses with a higher potential to run counter US interests, as well as increasing the potential for conflict. One area that could get pretty ugly is nuclear non-proliferation.

3) I also expect that overall, the position of anti-US constituents of various current US allies would grow - hampering the ability of US to lead on the world stage moving forward in millions of small detail ways that nonetheless add up.

Ultimately, however much Trump feels it's bad to the US, the US sits at the top of the current world order. He is proposing a realignment. It seems to me that the US risks to lose more than it stands to gain from shaking things up.

[jimmy olsen]

"South Korea is very rich, great industrial country, and yet we're not reimbursed fairly for what we do," Trump said. "We're constantly sending our ships, sending our planes, doing our war games — we're reimbursed a fraction of what this is all costing."

Asked whether the United States benefits from its involvement in the region, Trump replied, "Personally, I don't think so." He added, "I think we were a very powerful, very wealthy country, and we are a poor country now. We're a debtor nation."

He always sounds like the crotchety old uncle in the extended family that you let yammer on for hours on Thanksgiving while he's watching football and yearning for the days when brown people knew their place.

It sounds like he read two paragraphs in a Newsweek from fifteen years ago and now he thinks he knows everything there is about the subject and he would fix it if only they'd read his letters he sends from the basement every three or four days.

It's like he's reading the cliff notes version of foreign policy and he has no idea what's hes actually talking about but, hey, I just read what's on the cheat sheet and go with my gut and I'll ace the exam because that's worked before (it hasn't)

He's been going on about this from the early 90s at least, maybe late 80s. Along with his protectionism it's the most consistent part of his political beliefs.

[Jacob]

He's been going on about this from the early 90s at least, maybe late 80s. Along with his protectionism it's the most consistent part of his political beliefs.

If it wasn't because I'd have to live with the consequences, I'd be curious to see how it all played out.

[dps]

Making a fraudulent seal used to obtain a high ranking government position the emblem of the inspector general's office would be funny in its own way, and something I'd expect from a member of Donald Trump's team.

I wikied to check, and it looks like von Steuben was legit.  Maybe de Kalb?

Which one was the Kraut that drilled the army at Valley Forge?

That's weird, I thought it was pretty common knowledge that von Steuben wasn't actually an aristocrat. Strange that his wiki page doesn't even mention the idea in passing somewhere.

Nah, AFAIK the "von" was legit--he was a member of the aristocracy, though it was the lower aristocracy.  OTOH, he did apparently rather inflate his service record from the Prussian Army.

De Kalb wasn't born into the aristocracy, but was elevated to the French nobility for distinguished military service.

[sbr]

Making a fraudulent seal used to obtain a high ranking government position the emblem of the inspector general's office would be funny in its own way, and something I'd expect from a member of Donald Trump's team.

I wikied to check, and it looks like von Steuben was legit.  Maybe de Kalb?

Which one was the Kraut that drilled the army at Valley Forge?

That's weird, I thought it was pretty common knowledge that von Steuben wasn't actually an aristocrat. Strange that his wiki page doesn't even mention the idea in passing somewhere.

Nah, AFAIK the "von" was legit--he was a member of the aristocracy, though it was the lower aristocracy.  OTOH, he did apparently rather inflate his service record from the Prussian Army.

Well I guess it depends on what you mean by legit.  It appears that he received his title after becoming chamberlain to the "petty court of Hohenzollern-Hechingen" after being discharged from the Prussian Army (for unknown reasons) at the age of 33.  So while his title of Baron was legit, he was not born a noble and became a minor figure in a minor court as a second career.

[Jaron]

I wonder if a Trump presidency would seek justice for LaVoy?